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Everything posted by Terra

Obviously people who go on a shooting spree of any kind have some mental health issues. But all places in the world have people with mental health issues, the United States doesn't have more than anyone else, it is more a matter of limiting the ways in which they can be a danger to themselves and others, such as restricting their ability to acquire dangerous weapons or, perhaps, not electing them as your President. But at least one of those (hopefully not both) is not likely to ever be the case for the United States. The problems with gun control are not something that are going to go away today, tomorrow, or in 50 years when the next generation phases out, it will most likely never go away because of the kind of country you are. Don't get mad, let me explain.
The United States has the largest military force in the world. You are a very patriotic country. But an army needs equipment. They need grenades to throw, guns to shoot, bullets to fire, tanks, aircraft, carriers, jets, all those things need to be continuously manufactured and developed. And the largest military in the world needs a lot of them. The US Army gets these things from corporations that design and create them, often called the arms industry or defense contractors, who then sell them to the government. The arms business is so ludicrous in the US that most of these companies are very successful, very wealthy, and very powerful.
But the US military are not the only people these companies sell to. They also sell to licensed shops who then sell their weaponry to the citizens of the United States, who can freely buy them thanks to flexible gun laws. Like all companies, these businesses want to protect their profits, and they invest a great amount of money on politicians and political parties who in turn promise to maintain these current gun laws, and fund campaigns that point the problem at mental health issues and a lack of security instead.
These companies are wealthy and powerful enough to have considerable influence over this political agenda, and it is exceedingly unlikely that a reform will take place as long as their influence remains so strong. The arms dealer companies are also not going anywhere, they will have successors and inheritors and replacement members of their board from generation to generation, all of which who will act in the interests of the company as much or more as the people before them. Some US Senators are working to try and revoke corporate investment in politics, but that is a pretty difficult uphill battle, and even if the country were to successfully establish a reform, TieDieT is correct, it would just lead to backroom deals and black market trading, because as long as there is demand there will always be suppliers.
Which the companies can easily engage in. The US government is not going to arrest or prosecute the people who supply their military. You and I may not put a price to the sacred life of an individual, but corporations and governments most certainly do. Anything that creates an imbalance in the flow of arms supplied to US military factions runs the risk of causing the United States to fall behind in the arms race with Russia, which shifts the balance of power in the world. That is a risk the US government will not take, even if the byproduct of such an action occasionally costs the lives of innocent citizens.
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Depressing, yes? But don't feel alone, the effects go so much further than the United States itself. The arms manufacturing companies of the United States export outside of the US as well, in fact the United States is the #1 exporter of arms goods in the world, exporting somewhere around 30% of all the weaponry in the whole world during the last decade. Business is booming, to our allied nations for sure, but to others as well, because all those little conflicts in the middle-east and between North Korea and South Korea make for great profit margins, and these companies make a killing selling off their out-dated stock to those who will put them to good use.
There will never be world peace. The US economy is heavily dependent on conflict continuing within the world. If people make peace, then people stop using weapons and munitions. If people stop using weapons and munitions, sales drop, less income from trade, less funds for weapons development, the US Military falls behind in the arms race, and the balance of power internationally could shift more towards Russia's control.
The same weapons used to protect your nation will also be used to kill your citizens. The same conflicts that create terrorists that attack your country are also needed to fuel the economy of your country. The brighter the light, the greater the shadow it casts. Such is the world we live in.

Squad of the Month
Squad of the month is a new initiative that the OD community is offering to help Squad leaders generate attention for their Squad. Any Squad looking to become a Division is allowed to request to be Squad of the Month, and their application will be determined in the next Admin Meeting. If approved, that Squad will have their Teamspeak channel featured at the top of Teamspeak for one month.
This is intended to help Squads push towards Division status by making it easier for their new recruits to find their Teamspeak channel, and by promoting awareness of the game by placing it in an area where all members of the Clan are more likely to see it. To request Squad of the Month you must:
1. Be an existing Squad already on the website
2. Intend to make your Squad a Division and be willing to use Squad of the Month as an opportunity to drive towards that goal
Any Squad wishing to apply for Squad of the Month may reply to this topic, please include the name of your Squad, its leaders (Commander and XO) and your plans on how to make it into a Division using Squad of the Month (i.e. The days you plan to focus on recruitment, events you have in mind, etc.)
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Previous Squads of the Month
Magic: The Gathering - December 2017

-- Overdosed - The Guide to Everything --
There's a lot to our community, all built and refined over the years to be what it is today. Don't worry, no one expects you to read it all, but if during your time in OD you find yourself wondering how something works, such as voting on people or how to be a recruiter, then this is available to look it up anytime you want.
I noticed Purplez linking everyone to the guide in every introduction topic and it struck me how smart and practical that was, so to follow up on a good idea I decided to just pin the guide at the top of the introduction board here. Thanks Purplez!

I've been meaning to make a topic about this but with everything that has been going on lately I've been frequently side-tracked. During the hype of dramatic times it is often easy to overlook the positive accomplishments that still take place within the Clan, but this is one accomplishment that definitely deserves its time in the spotlight.
Overdosed has been around since virtually the start of 2001 giving it a history of 17 years now, which by online community standards is a staggering amount of time. During those years its population has ebbed and flowed on many occasions, sometimes reaching great heights and other times dropping to pretty humble values (even as low as 30 members once from what I have been previously told). However during those 17 years there has never been an occasion (that we've been able to find on record) where OD has ever breached more than 400 members. The population milestone we have today is the crowning achievement of the legacy of OD, and in terms of population itself we can finally say that we are the best and most successful generation of OD ever. (Some generations did better in other areas, but in terms of population and overall community health we are the best)
This is thanks to the hard work of all recruiters in OD, no matter which Division you are a part of, because everyone's recruits contributed to this total. This is also thanks to the hard work of all people who host events, all people who take the time to help out newer members, and all people who keep trying to found new Divisions for the Clan even if it doesn't always work out. All of you have played a role in helping to retain the new members we have acquired and make them feel welcome, as well as keeping the games fresh and interesting. OD is a place for gaming, fun, and hanging out with people, but it requires those willing to put in hard work and effort to create and maintain these things so that everyone else can enjoy them. Which is a selfless and often underappreciated task that is normally next-to-impossible to get your average lazy person to do, and yet we somehow have so many great people completely willing to give of their own time, energy, and sometimes even their own expenses in order to provide for the rest of us. Which is amazing, and to each of you who has done so, I hope the current success of the Clan as a whole serves as a shining example of how all your efforts were worth it.
OD has changed in many ways over the years, heavily influenced by different kinds of leaders and different kinds of community environments. The Clan has had many incredible members, Generals, and Commanders in the past, some of which did things very differently from what we do today. But they all had a love for OD, and all wanted to see the Clan do well, and it is my belief that every single one of them would look upon our Clan today and be proud to see how it is doing. We are the pinnacle of a history stretching back to a time when some of you were still young kids and toddlers, and there has never been a more sure time than now that OD will continue to go on for many many years to come. I have no doubt that future generations of OD members many years from now will look back on what we have accomplished here as the records worth aiming for, the goals to try and meet and surpass. They will struggle and work hard to reclaim once again those glory days of old, when OD was at its height with over 400 members.
But we are the glory days, so let's be sure to make them so glorious that every future generation of OD will be forever jealous of us.

I've been hearing a common phrase lately from people saying something like "The Guide to Everything isn't a rule, it's just a guideline, and doesn't have to be followed". This is a bit inaccurate, the Guide to Everything is the total compilation of information involving OD, which includes rules and policies as well. We're not bloody pirates.
To help members better differentiate what is actually a rule in the guide to everything, I have colored everything considered to be a rule in red text. This means anything in red text can lead to consequences if disregarded. These consequences can be anything from a talk or denial of your request, or more severe punishments such as loss of rank or power, or not being allowed to attend or speak in meetings. The exact consequence will vary depending on the infraction, but universally if you disregard a red-text statement then bad things can happen. So please don't.
If you have questions, or if anything is unclear, or if the red text is too light or difficult to read with certain forum skins then let me know.

It was recently removed as I've been told that a recent change made to the game made recruitment exceedingly difficult, and the previous Squad Leader has since turned his attention towards reviving the Heroes of the Storm Division.

I'm sure many of you have heard by now of the former "eggplant" situation on Discord in which some people were accused of sexual harassment, and some of you have had pretty strong feelings about what has transpired. To make sure that we, as a community, are on the same page, I am going to fill everyone in on the specifics of what happened, and what this situation is really about.
We have spoken to all individuals involved and confirmed that the eggplant emojis were a group of people trolling in response to some users who were unintentionally using a server-wide notification to ping all members on the Discord. Although trolling and teasing can be considered inappropriate themselves in certain circumstances, all people who were doing it mentioned that there was no indication that the other side was upset, and if they had known then they would have stopped.
As it turns out they didn't know the other side was upset because at the time the other side wasn't upset. We have spoken to Rose, who was the primary target of the teasing, and those who were with her during the time it happened, and they confirmed that they didn't regard it as a problem at the time, they never felt there was any kind of sexual implication from it, and never had any intention of persecuting or reporting those who were doing it. The incident started as commonplace gamer trolling, and ended with people rolling their eyes and shaking their head, as is so often the case.
The suggestion that it was an act of sexual harassment came afterwards, and this notion came from a single individual who was neither a target nor an involved part of what transpired. Out of courtesy I will refrain from mentioning this individual by name, however they took it upon themselves to spread the word that this was a case of sexual harassment (because the people used eggplant emojis, and there are often pictures on the internet of eggplants resembling male genitalia), under the pretense of acting on behalf of Rose this individual first spoke to TypeReaL, then to Xayj, then PoPs, then Sassy in a dramatic fashion to spin a tale of how these individuals were sex abusers that picked on Rose, before finally bringing it to the attention of the Commanders in a group PM with them, and demanding action be taken.
The Commanders launched an investigation into the situation, led by Badboi, to determine the events that occurred. During this occasion the individual in question spoke to certain people with what some have described as bragging that he was about to get several people disabled, including a General. But the Commanders did not find sufficient evidence of intended sexual harassment, and instead we punished the individuals for the act of trolling itself while under the belief that the actions themselves were still upsetting to Rose and others. We were unaware at the time that Rose never had anything to do with these allegations.
Upon discovering this, the individual responsible for spreading the idea of sexual harassment threatened to resign, and continued to rile up certain circles of people with claims that the Commanders were not taking acts of sexual harassment seriously and were letting "sex offenders" off with a slap on the wrist, leading to others considering the idea of resignation, presumably in an effort to force our hand. However shortly after we came across new information that revealed to us that no one on the receiving end of the eggplant troll had been upset about it from the start, and that the claims of this individual acting on behalf of Rose was entirely false. This prompted a new investigation that led to this discovery that the allegations of sexual harassment were the machinations of a single person who was actively misleading people and leaders in an effort to rally people behind a false cause, and unjustifiably destroy the reputations of several individuals who became the target of his crusade.
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Now this leads us to the aftermath. It is important to understand that accusations of sexual harassment are taken seriously by this community, however the severity of such accusations mean that they should also never be made carelessly either, without a strong measure of certainty. There was no such certainty in these accusations, they were a result of an outside party's observations whose motives have since become extremely suspect.
The people involved in the eggplant emojis were originally punished under the belief that they had antagonized certain individuals who were reporting them for their trolling. However in light of new information it is clear that at the time of the occurrence this was not actually the case, and that the severity of their punishments no longer appropriately reflect what had transpired, and will be reversed. Trolling itself is generally a discouraged act when done to people outside your circle of friends, and to some extent the people involved in this issue could have conducted themselves better, however it is determined that the 2-day suspension that they have already received is already appropriate recompense for whatever misconduct occurred at the time.
Lastly,
some people have taken to accusing Rose as the person responsible for the sexual harassment accusations and the persecution of the people involved. Let the record be clear that Rose had no part at all in bringing these accusations to leadership, she was not involved in any step of this ordeal and never wished to be a part of it. If you are one of the people that have accused her of being soft, two-faced, or anything else related to the incident, then you owe her an apology because you were wrong.
Anyone with questions or doubts about this incident are free to post in this thread, or send me a PM in private, and I strongly encourage all people to ask the questions that they need to because all of us need to make sure we are informed, and that we do not jump to any unfair conclusions. Please and thank you.

There is no easy route through your circumstances, it is a difficult situation to be in. However it is important that you balance your moments of stress with your moments of calm and relaxation to the best that you can. It is a hard thing to do sometimes, but the truth is you can't help anyone if you aren't capable of helping yourself first. You often stop by the Gamer's Lounge channel, but you only ever stay for a few minutes at a time. You should stick around a bit longer next time, have a drink with us (It is a lounge after all, right?) and let the stress of recent ordeals wash away. It isn't selfish to see to your own needs, rather it is instead foolish not to.
The failing health or eventual passing of a loved one is an ordeal that we will all have to face at some point in our lives, it is a trial we cannot avoid and it will test us for all that we are. But for the sake of those who are afflicted or cannot follow after it is a test we must overcome. If your sister helped shape you into the person you are today, then today you must be a person that can endure this trial, as there is no better reflection of the true value of her life and the worth of her struggles than in the vivid difference she has made to those around her. We must be the strength of those whose strength is failing, the resilience of those whose resilience is weakening, and the future of those whose future approaches. Until such a day as someone else must be ours for us.

This is why we reversed the original consequences, and why Badboi is apologizing. It is just like Hikato said, a lot of mistakes were made on many sides, the Commanders made a mistake as well. We didn't talk to as many people as we should have initially, we weren't fully aware of the need to do so. We didn't think to doubt the person's claims about your intentions, and we didn't know Sassy was mad. It wasn't really just simple carelessness, there were plenty of reasons for us to think that way, but none of them are *really* justification for the mistake so there's no point in me getting into them. Sorry that it caused you more hardship, if it's any consolation it caused us a lot of extra hardship as well.
I like to think that we don't make mistakes often, I can't remember the last time we collectively made a mistake. But for all our time, experience, and knowledge we are as human as everyone else, and we're not perfect. Sometimes mistakes will happen, and if we are expecting a leadership that never makes any then I can only wish everyone the best of luck in their journey to find one. In the meantime, we are capable of recognizing our own mistakes, correcting ourselves, and taking responsibility for it. Which at least might be the next best thing in the absence of flawlessness.

Man you are turning my ice-breaker moment into something so melancholic. Relax, I wasn't picking some random person for a public roast, I was teasing someone whom I knew quite well and I already knew wouldn't be bothered by it. If a person in my position isn't allowed a little sense of humor once and a while then I'll have nothing left but my charming and irresistable smile to define me.

When did I do that? You mean Hikato? I wouldn't have said it if I thought it would bother him.
If I was wrong then sorry for hurting your feelings, Hikato. I'll make sure Aerineth is available for cake and counseling if you need him.

I used to do a lot of gaming and Clanning the previous decade, before voice chat programs became a thing, and I grew up accustomed to typing as the mainstream way of communication. When voice chat programs started to become more commonly used I didn't really get into them for a long time because type-chatting felt so much more normal and natural, plus I liked being able to listen to my music without having to worry about volume and others having to hear it too.
Eventually though, voice chats became so mainstream it got to a point where I had to accept that the online world was changing, and I needed to start changing with it or get left out. So I slowly started to warm up to it, at first only using it for raids in mmorpg's or other short-term stuff, but gradually more regularly. Can't say voice chats ever seemed to warm up to me in turn, things being what they are, but at least now it feels about as natural as typing always did.

Between our recent PM's and my Eval I'm pretty sure I've already done a good job of expressing your value, both to the Clan and to me personally. If I add any here too then I'm quite certain it will reach a point where you just couldn't bear to leave me at all anymore, and all of this would be for nothing. Plus people might start thinking I'm pathetically human or something.
Impulsively I want us to be able to keep you forever. More realistically I knew this day would come at some point, tragically nothing lasts forever. You've spoken of stepping down before on a couple occasions over the past several years, I think I have even saved a conversation between us about it during my first year in OD. But it was always over cases of self-doubt, believing that you weren't doing your rank justice and weren't serving the Clan in the capacity it deserved.
That was stupid. But this time it's different, you're doing it for the right reasons now. You got some good things going for you, and as much as I hate letting you go, I would hate holding you back even more. So see you around I guess. It's been a heck of a roller coaster, and it was great to share the experience with you.

Well, we will continue to look for ways to improve it, and as Tris mentioned we have gone to great lengths to try and improve it already. Suggestions are welcome, and even though we may not necessarily be able to take on the suggestions you have given here, I'm glad you made them nonetheless.
Unfortunately no matter how good we make the system I don't think that it will ever erase people's doubts altogether. We need the hierarchy system to function, and as long as the hierarchy system exists there are inevitably going to be those lower in the chain who don't see all or any of what those at the top do. If someone wants to make a topic about it every once and a while then they certainly can do so, and we'll address it if it helps, although if they are going to get cheeky about it then they best prepare for it to become a red cheek from Terra's back-hand. My tough love is the toughest.

But Tris has a good point when he says that the hierarchy is built to spread out the work load. You keep talking about making Commanders more available to more people, but a member shouldn't need to go to a Commander as their first choice to begin with, if there is a problem in their Division then they should go to their Division Leader. If their Division Leader has a problem, or is the problem, then they should speak to a ranking General. Many of us Commanders actually are approachable anytime and the ladder system can be skipped anyway, much as it probably shouldn't be, but even for those that aren't, all Generals and Division Leaders know how to get in touch with any Commander and can easily pass along concerns from any member onto us.
Granted this method is probably what led to this belief that Commanders don't do anything, and resulted in the creation of this topic. But the system is important nonetheless. It isn't just important for making sure workload is spread evenly throughout the community, but it's important in order to give Division Leaders and Generals the opportunity to be good leaders, to improve, and to demonstrate what they can do to make them viable candidates for the next rank up when they decide to aim for it. It also helps build the trust members have in them and their ability to resolve issues so that these members don't feel like they need a Commander to solve every problem.
So if it is a question of Commanders being available to help people with problems, then the hierarchy system is much better overall at handling it, and they should instead go to the appropriate person responsible for the aspect of the Clan that they are in, or had the problem in. If it is a question of Commanders being available simply to talk with everyone and get to know them on a personal level, then as Tris said that just isn't feasible.
Many of us have certain circles in which we are more involved in than others, but 5 Commanders divided among 372 members, you crunch those numbers and the only thing you're gonna get is a sad panda every time.

It's not a big deal. But an evaluation is a big deal. Members can ask about Generals and Commanders anytime they want, that's never been a problem. But simple questions don't require grand changes. Most of the time it just requires you to ask the question.
Attend the Admin Meeting tomorrow and the situation with Tris will be explained.
Was called to write an eval this season specifically because he's been shirking his responsibilities lately.
Was unfortunately detained in a secure facility for quite a while, has only recently received our "Get out of Jail Free" card and become available again.
I saved R.ag for last because his case is a bit more complicated. This might be a bit redundant after his evaluation but Rag is our back-end, he talks to those who come to talk to him but his work and lifestyle don't leave enough extra time for him to come socialize regularly. In the past most Commanders who have gotten to the point where he is have chosen that time to retire, but Rag has instead stayed on to continue supporting OD for many many years despite that, and as he stated in his evaluation he's chosen to take on the role of a non-partisan observer over most decisions and discussions, which is easier for him given his situation.
But as for what he does, he's our primary protection against website and server-related attacks or problems. If the server goes down then he's the one who gets it back up. If our entire Forum is wiped out through some crazy happenstance then he's the one who restores it from the back-ups he's been regularly keeping. We have a shoutbox on the forum again because of him.
He also manages OD's finances, so any money that OD receives is used by him to pay for everything we have, managing our bills as it were, or for any other ventures we may try to use OD money for. And lastly he manages our coding team, testing and assessing anyone interested in becoming a coder for OD, providing them with a dummy website to practice their changes on, and screening the changes they make before implementing them on the real website. Currently he also seems to have decided that he's very interested in testing Discord's viability as a main voice chat for OD, but we'll see where that goes.
OD gets attacked a lot. A pretty stupid amount actually. But the reason the rest of us can continue playing games, running Divisions, and holding meetings in peace, the reason our biggest problem is always what to change in the Clan instead of how to keep this whole thing from falling apart, is because of what he does on the back-end. It makes him unusual compare to your mainstream Commanders, but an undeniably important role that we depend on for this community to work. And though it is easy to get distressed at him for not being around more, and not giving more to the Clan, the truth is we are pretty lucky that he has still been there to do the things that he already does.

Touche, I won't deny that it is an ironic statement coming from me. But the way I did it and the way they are doing it here is very different. Sure, I've called people out, I've called higher ranks out, and as I've said earlier in this topic it can have its moments of success if you do it right. But when I did it, it was after months of talking about the problem with existing Generals and learning about the problems, and what you guys had already done about it up to that point. I did my homework, found the information I needed, and my actions were a result of what I *did* know, not what I didn't know.
The responsibility of ensuring Generals and Commanders are doing their job has always been with the higher ranks, those in ranks equal and above them, it was the case back then and it is the case now. The question is whether those responsible for holding them accountable are doing that effectively. As I said to Rose, if there are concerns about something or someone then there are steps that can be taken to address it. But not knowing is not knowing, you can't claim that there is no accountability if you don't know, and in this case the people of the aggressors side didn't know, but were making demands anyway.